n. cree tune

[contemptradish]

hi all!
i need some help figuring out some words to a northern cree song.
there's one song a few of us were trying to figure out.
now i know this is almost dumb to ask the question b/c i don't even know the title of the song, but just a few words is all we need.

so i'm going to use phonetical spelling here:

my friend says they say "bay twana" where i swear it's "may kwana." i think i had read somewhere that "mekwana" (sp?) means something about keeping in time to the music or bells or something.
are we close?

ok, if anyone can help us out and settle this bet, we'd appreciate it.
thanks,
nicky


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[This message has been edited by contemptradish (edited March 06, 2001).]

[contemptradish]

c'mon- no northern cree fans in the bunch here??

we're waiting...


[This message has been edited by contemptradish (edited March 06, 2001).]

[kahkakew]

Long ago I posted that Mekwana meant to keep time with the drum beat......if you are going to sing in cree, try to get someone to teach you how to say it right and what oyu are saying..ther eis nothing more infuriating that listeningto oyur language being butchered whilst you dance....that is a real downer!

Kahkakew

[contemptradish]

Kahkakew-

Well that post must've been what I remember reading. Thanks for your help again.
Also, the knives are still packed away and no butchering has occurred yet. That's why we're asking now, so we won't get it wrong.
I can understand not wanting your language butchered. Thanks, K, for your mastery of English and all its grammar/ spelling lessons. I wouldn't want you chopping up my language either.
N

[This message has been edited by contemptradish (edited March 07, 2001).]

[itokasniye]

Keeping in time with the dancing eagle.

i guess.

ito

[nimihtotan]

mikwana: to me that word means eagle feather or eagle......yea anyways you should learn what the song/words have to say before you sing the songs....just a suggestion.

[kahkakew]

My brain was frozen there, i stand corected as my Nechis said, Mekwan is indeed a feather and Mekwana is plural..to keep time is "pahpiyakwan", even the best of us slip up from time to time!

To have a good rhytmn in singing is different than dancing, it is called" takahkihtakosiwin" Holy tongue twister Batman! Must be early stages of Oldtimers..wah wah!!

Kahkakew

[HighsNLows]

i think maybe the song your thinking of is on the "honor the eagle feather" tape, and it is made by Randy Wood. the tape has the translation inside the cover. look at that if you have the tape. (bootlegs wont have it)

[itokasniye]

I know the song contemptradish is talking about. I searched my 4 n cree tapes. it is not the 'honor the eagle' song. Supposedly it is on on of their first 2 or 3 tapes. It begins with Mekwana...mekwana....and then a few vocables.

[R-Lee]

One song definitely has this word. It is the Fancy Dance Trick Song on the 1997 Dance Hard album (still my favorite Northern Cree). The translation is written as "Honoring the Eagle Feather".
Here's a tip for all you Cree powwow music fans (yes I am one too). Blackstone put out an album in 1999 called LIVE... In Wild Rose Country. I couldn't believe it when I opened the cover. There were actually Cree words with English translations. This is in no way a substitute for a knowledgeable Cree but when you are as far south as I am it helps.